HUSH...HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE is a mysterious horror drama which, in addition to the general madness on the surface, has a great deception designed in the background. This is a film about a mysterious murder, deceptions and torture. A gruesome and grotesque secret is hidden behind the walls of a luxurious mansion. „What ever happened to Baby Jane?" the second part...A Southern belle Charlotte is lonely in her house. She is haunted by personal tragedy of the past, which includes the murder of her lover. When a distant relative comes to stay at her mansion, tensions and conspiracy beginning to boil in a pot, in which the truths take human lives...The plot is a somewhat vague, and the procedures of the antagonists are predictable. Mr. Aldrich has offered, again, an array of shocking twists and turns, which include a harsh truth, but he, this time, did not take into account the probabilities. The truth in this story is something like waking up from a horrible nightmare. Mr. Aldrich has relied too much on the relationships between the characters, emotional turmoil and hidden intents.Bette Davis as Charlotte Hollis is a strange combination between a crazy old woman and confused lady. A melodramatic tone in her character is mixed with horror that surrounds her. Nevertheless, Ms. Davis has offered a great performance. Olivia de Havilland as Miriam Deering is a hidden devil under a curtain of goodness. The face of Ms. de Havilland is the embodiment of compassion and kindness. She can be a strong and shrewd woman, but a villain .... Joseph Cotten (Doctor Drew Bayliss) is too theatrical. Agnes Moorehead (Velma Cruther) is energetic and exciting as a loyal servant. Cecil Kellaway (Harry Willis) and Mary Astor (Jewel Mayhew) are pale appearance as a homing pigeon and an eternal enemy.This is not bad ... not at all.

Revisited this film on a DVD recently. This film was director Robert Aldrich's follow-up to his previous hit What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. So of course the expectations were high. The film is about Charlotte (Bette Davis) who lives with her maid (Agnes Moorehead) in a decaying southern mansion, shunned by the townsfolk after the mysterious murder of her late lover some 37 years earlier. She is acquitted due to lack of evidence. When she is threatened that her house will b demolished, she is reluctant to vacate n calls her cousin for help. This is when the past starts haunting her. The direction and settings are perfect and the story features some terrific twists and turns. The atmosphere is brooding n tense n the acting is splendid by Bette Davis but it was Agnes Moorehead who was terrific. Her acting, specially her mannerisms were so perfect like that of a maid. Found the movie creepy n scary when i first saw this as a kid.

Bette Davis is holding forth on an old mansion in the South. She is a sort of Miss Havisham, having faced the death of her fiancée years before. It was likely her father killed her lover, but over time people started to blame her--she was simply weird. The mansion becomes the obstruction in an eminent domain case which would put Bette on the street. She call for her cousin to help her (Olivia de Havilland) but she turns out to be an adversary with her own motivations. Soon awful things begin to happen at the house with a series of efforts to put the old lady over the edge. In addition to a wonderful score, this film works quite well. There are also performances by some terrific actors, including Agnes Moorehead. Quite fun with lots of surprises along the way.

Watched this again just now, as although I'd seen it some time ago I'd forgotten what it was like. I remember thinking it was bad. It certainly is bad. Incredibly slow, slow, slow, and boring. Every event, especially the penultimate climax, is signalled about ten minutes before it happens. And it's of no interest, anyway. I could not care less about anything that these characters did, and shuddered at what seemed to me their excruciatingly painful, but inconsistent, accents. The writing is dreadful, the acting is wooden beyond belief --- in scene after scene these actors speak their lines mechanically, without the slightest sensation. Except for a heavy dose of ham. The pacing is funereal. The trivia note says that Bette Davis was publicly derisive of Joan Crawford's extensive location wardrobe. Was Joan Crawford in this movie ? I'd better read the cast list again.